Save Money Easily with the $5 Savings Challenge

I’m not sure about you guys, but I am always looking for new ways to save money. It is SO important to have a little cash lying around in case of emergencies, but a lot of times it seems it’s hard to FIND that money! Here’s an inside scoop on a challenge that could end up helping you save THOUSANDS of dollars… it’s called the $5 Savings Challenge.

The 5-Dollar Challenge

About a year ago, my friend and her husband were challenged to save EVERY $5 bill that came into their possession. The rule is simple… if you’ve got $5, it goes into a jar and you can never count the cash.

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For my friend and her hubby, the goal is that in a few years (maybe even in 1 year), they will open up the jar and use the money to take a trip to Ireland to visit the places where his ancestors are from.

Their family did not have the budget for a vacation, BUT by doing this, they would be able to slowly save up for a pretty incredible vacation with just her and the hubs. Sounds great to me!

Now, for the sake of the post, I asked her to break the rule and count her cash! She was FLOORED when she discovered that in just10 short months, they socked away $1365! I was SO shocked and excited for them!

My friend told me, “We really do not use cash all that often, but the little bills have added up and we are a little over halfway there! And to be quite honest, we have not even noticed it in our budgeting. We have still had all we needed to pay our bills and still live comfortably.”

The $5 Challenge is an Easy Way to Accumulate Cash

Guys, this is such a simple and easy way to slowly save while you are busy paying off debt or living paycheck to paycheck! Her story inspired me so much that I am going to give it a try!

Here is another amazing 5 dollar challenge result/success story found on the blog Life Hacks:

That person saved over $3,000 in just a year by stashing away all their $5 bills. That’s insane! I’m telling you, you can do this!

Why You Should Do the $5 Saving Challenge

It will help you be more conscious of how you spend cash.

Don’t use cash? Consider using it for all your “extras” each month.

That $5 bill means one less drink at Starbucks or not getting dessert when you go out to dinner.

Rather than hanging on to coins, do it with your Lincolns!! EVERY $5 BILL IS OFF-LIMITS!

Develop a new pattern with your money… create a pattern where you stash every five dollar bill. As you create this simple money saving habit, you may find that saving your money instead of buying frivolous things will help you accumulate more wealth over time! Having self-control with your money rolls over into so many other aspects of your life.

Patterns = Habits = Lifestyle

This challenge is a FUN & EASY way to save. Without even noticing it, you will be making smart financial decisions. The impact of this challenge is far greater than the effort you will put into it.

How to Start the $5 Challenge

It’s crazy easy to start! Just grab a piggy bank, jar, or box and start saving. Each time you get a $5 bill, stick it in your savings jar and never think about it again.

To make this challenge even more fun, pick a reason for your saving. My friend has a paper taped to the outside of their jar that says, “Ireland Fund” (see the cute pic above). So pick something! Get your spouse to do it with you… if they aren’t game, then do it yourself and pick a fun goal! Here are a few ideas:

A vacation (I’ve been wanting to go to an all-inclusive resort!) – you could treat you and your spouse to an amazing weekend getaway or take the family on a Christmas vacation!

A makeover in your bedroom or a bathroom remodel

New car

Pay off your student loans or credit card debt

And for those of you who can’t turn down a dare, I dare you to not only save every $5 bill you get but also, save $5 from each paycheck! Or anytime you get paid in any form! (Refund, gift, rebate etc.)

This savings challenge works so well because $5 is so small that you won’t even notice it’s gone. However, once you open up your jar a year from now (or longer), you will be AMAZED at the results.

No matter the cause, I invite you to start this 5 dollar challenge and let us know A YEAR from now how much you’ve saved! I promise you that you will see REAL results!

Want to join me? Leave a comment below and tell me what you’re going to do with your cash!

Comments

I never use coins, just put them in a coffee can anytime I get them. I had over $80 to splurge with in just a few months. I was shocked! Now I’m going to add $5 bills to that list and see what happens. My trick will be stashing them away in something difficult to open to keep me from going on the money. Something that takes TNT to open would be great!! But I’m inspired by this challenge so I’m going to try! Thanks for sharing with us!

I started the $1 and $5 challenge in first part of October 2017. And it’s a few days away from Thanksgiving 2017. I have saved $1000. not going to stop till November of 2018. I will let you know how it turns out.

I have begun the $5 challenge for 2018. Five days in and I am at $45 already! So stoked and will not count any further for a while. I am applying for an acting conservatoire and every penny of this will help with the cost!

It was funny because I was already doing the $1 challenge and truly mastered it to where I had my husband passing me his singles! I figured that I was ready to go ahead and do the $5 challenge! I’ve started and it is so natural for me to take the $5’s and put them in my special wallet I have hanging underneath my Vision Board! 2018 Goal!

I am doing the 5 dollar challenge and then also tucking away the end of the week fun money. I am finding that I try to see how much I can save at the end of the week. I am also taking half of what is left in my checking account on payday adding it to my savings account.

I am going to start this challenge tomorrow!! I’m so excited. I believe this is something I can do. It will be my emergency fund, I will go from now until I fill three bottles. Then I will put it in a ROTH IRA and begin all over again. Such a great idea.

I started this challenge in December 2015 and it really is a fun way to save for whatever. I have no idea how many fives I have accumulated but I did had to get a bigger container three times. I am tempted to count the bills but have not yet but my container feels like it weighs 4 pounds. I am saving for a 14 day European vacation for my family.

Last year, I tried the 52 week challenge ($1 the first week, $2 the second week, etc.) and it didn’t work very well. I came across the idea of the $5 challenge and thought that would be much easier to stick with. I’m happy to say that, since January 1st, 2018, I have saved $700 so far. It’s funny because whenever I get a $5 bill, my initial thought is “oh crap, I can’t spend that”, followed immediately with “awesome, that’s another $5 bill towards my (as of yet undetermined) goal” 🙂

I started this challenge around February of this year. In 8 short months, I have saved about $200. I am a college student who doesn’t use cash often, so I was floored when I saw all the cash that I had saved.

I started this when I saw something similar on fb sometime in September 2018. 2 months in and I’m over 300 already! So excited, not sure when I’ll stop and what we’ll use it for but I’m sure it’ll be great!

I’m starting this challenge today as a Birthday gift to myself for January 20th. I can’t wait to see how much I’ll have by then. I may put it toward my house down payment fund…….. Thanks so much for the info!

I decided to participate in this challenge on January 1st, 2018. 10 months and 27 days later, I am up to over $1,000! And I’m still going strong. My plan is to see what I have on December 31st. It’s amazing how quickly it added up. It was so easy to do. My honey and I are going to Costa Rica; this will definitely allow us to splurge a little. I will DEFINITELY be participating in this challenge next year!

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